Sunday, May 31, 2009

Sunday Sermon~May 31, 2009

Pastor Rob preached today.
He asked the question, "What is it that separates the one who soars from the one who sinks?"
I thought perhaps it was what they ate for lunch, but that wasn't the correct answer.

He came to the pulpit with a great burden on his heart; the desire to see believers and non-believers alike, become disciples of Jesus Christ. We are not called to be believers; we are called to be disciples, and we are called to make disciples, and not just get people saved.

How do we become disciples?

#1-Get saved. Repent of your sin. Confess with your mouth that Jesus died and rose from the grave.

#2-Hunt down a spiritual mentor. We need to have deeper relationships with each other.

#3-Take initiative and be intentional about your own spiritual growth.

To be spiritually mature means that we are being conformed into the image of Christ.

He had the Sunday School teachers come up for the next quarter. He introduced them and the subject of their class. Then, he invited folks to come up and talk with the teachers and find out more about the class. I thought this was wise. It broke the ice between teacher and student and helped people to make somewhat of a commitment to come to Sunday School.

Skip Tobin, a missionary in Thailand that Johnny and Janelle worked with said something like this. "When we just get people saved and then send them on their merry way, we inoculate them against the gospel of Christ. We give them a little bit and make them immune to the gospel. We need to make disciples of them and this will cost them and us a great deal more."
Pastor Rob said that sometimes we mark Jesus down like old bananas at the Kroger's grocery store. We make it too easy. Sometimes, Jesus said things to His disciples and they walked away from Him.

So the answer to who soars; who sinks?
The faithful disciple of Christ will soar.
The believer, the one who believes to
just 'get in', will sink.

The line is drawn in the sand.
You have to carry your cross to follow Jesus.
But His yoke is easy,
and His burden is light,
although it doesn't always feel that way.
I wouldn't want to do it without Him,
that's for sure.

No comments: